Our first full year of blogging is almost at an end. At the end of last year, we toasted to many more beauty-filled meowments, festive felines, and bad cat puns in 2015. We can confidently say “check, check, and CHECK” to them all.  See?

Now here are our furvorites that made 2015 a little purrrettier.

Angela

• Butts ‘n’ Roses: Not the name of my new rock band. Butts and roses sums up the importance of feeling JOY in my beauty routine. It’s not just about utility. If I can choose between two similarly effective products, I’ll take the one with butts/roses on them, thankyouverymuch. This year, I built A Dozen Roses skincare routine, and I raided the VDL x Kakao collabs for products featuring my favorite character: a derrière thinly veiled as a peach. (A peach! ::snort::)  For MOAR gratuitous shots of Buttface Apeach, see my IG posts here, here, and here. I’m waiting with bated breath for a Mr. Baldy collab.
• Semi-permanent brow tattoos (my review): “Life changing,” Renee promised. And she was right. Before tattoos, I never felt comfortable going out without some brow powder. Somehow, having #iwokeuplikethis brows even makes me more comfortable with going out with no makeup at all. Even though I still applied brow powder most days–I couldn’t go back for the 2-week touchup recommended by Sherri, so there was some unevenness–my brow routine was cut to 1-2 mins. instead of the usual 5+ mins. and the outcome was so much more consistent (bye, bad brow days!).
• Mamonde Pang Pang Hair Shadow (my review): A recent HG discovery, this gets used at least every other day and makes a noticeable difference (to me anyway) even when my hair is down.
• Heroine Make Long & Curl Super Film: What started as a disappointingly thin mascara soon worked its way into a daily staple once I discovered that a few swipes on the tips of my lashes added a few mms of length thanks to the fibers in the formula. I wish I had a good before & after (I’ll do this when I post a full review), but this pic shows the after. The only downside is that the lengthening power drops precipitously after about a month, so I go through tubes like crazy.
• Instagram: I resisted IG for a long time because lazy. It is indeed a time-consuming black hole, but what I quickly realized was that there’s a whole ‘nother AB community on there that’s active and interactive. More so than in blogging. People comment, ask questions, chime in with recommendations, and “like” more readily than on our website–making all the time worthwhile.
• YouTube: Much stress so joy. Editing our vids is a great outlet for creativity (but not so much for my perfectionism as the slow pace of finished videos demonstrates). Loving the challenge of making concise, interesting entertainment–and if it means MOAR gratuitous vids and pics of Roxy, then that’s just the cherry on top. ::sneaky grin::

Renee

Ditto Angela’s thoughts on IG and YouTube. And moar:

• Daiso Japan Reusable Silicon Mask Cover (my review): This is the mother topper of all masks. Made like cling wrap, it keeps moisture in and traps it so that it has nowhere to go except to penetrate (heh heh) your skin. Genius, Daiso. And at $1.50 from the store or $6.50 (price keeps going up) on Amazon, I recommend you get one, and three backups like I did. I gave it to my friends and they all love it too!
• DIY Cushioning (link to Ang’s tutorial): Since I am allergic to chemical sunscreens and am also a shade of SUPER DARK according to Asian standards, it was virtually impossible to find foundation cushions that is my shade. I don’t really wear foundation because…well I don’t really need it. However I like the concept of coverage both in terms of color and in terms of sunscreen. Voila, DIY by Angela to the rescue. This saves SO much time in the morning if you do face makeup as well. AH-MAZEBALLS.
• Donkey Milk EVERYTHING: Maybe it’s psychosomatic but donkey milk is totally my new snail. It’s super sticky but I feel that in the morning, my skin is so bright and softened when I use products with donkey milk in it. Milk is a good choice!
• Erborian Pate Au Ginseng Black Concentrated Mask: Because I am now broke and cheap, I don’t wanna spend the $60 on the Pate Au Ginseng Black Concentrate Mask from Erborian. Damnit, forgot to use that $25 off coupon from Sephora! Anyway, after using samples, I think it’s probably a milder, less stinky dupe for the famous Biologique Recherche Masque Vivant. I feel that it lifts off dead layers and hydrates at the same time.
• Mink falsies by Velour and House of Lashes: TOTAL game changer. If you don’t already know how to wear false lashes, START NOW. It doubles your eye size without plastic surgery and look amazing in pictures. And then, when you graduate to mink, you’ll be the owner of sweeping wisps of delicate yet densely packed flutters.
• The Peach and Lily Sample Sale: despite all my bitching, this was a memorable thrill. I may never go again because that line rivaled the Hermes sample sale and Benghazi combined. HOWEVER, given my initial luck at the first event and the jaw-dropping prices, I felt like I won the lottery…for Angela. Nothing like smugly stroking luxury products obtained at a deep deep deep discount. This event will be a gem to polish in my golden days.

Update on one of last year’s furrvorites, the Dry Bar Buttercup Blow Dryer totally broke. I went back to Sephora and exchanged for a T3 Featherweight Luxe 2i instead. I take back every nice thing I ever said about the Dry Bar Buttercup ::shakes fist::

HAPPY PAWLIDAYS from the both of us! XOXO.